Norman Beaton, Acting - KorPlix:Korean Person Archives

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Norman Beaton
Acting

Norman Beaton
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1934-10-31,Georgetown, Guyana
Gender
Male
Biography
Norman Beaton was a popular and much loved Guyanese born British actor. He arrived in the UK in 1960 and worked as a calypso singer and musician and a teacher - being the first black teacher employed by the education authority in Liverpool. His heart set on a career in showbusiness, he moved to Bristol and became a presenter on the regional news magazine Points West, before a two week prison sentence curtailed his presenting career. He subsequently found work in London's West End, appearing in The Tempest as Ariel, a role he subsequently cited as the most important in his career. He helped set up the Black Theatre in Brixton in the mid 70s and broke into television with the first black British sitcom, The Fosters in 1976, playing Lenny Henry's father. A star turn in the movie Black Joy followed a year later, as did the principal role in the fledgling black soap Empire Road for the BBC. But it is perhaps his performance as Desmond Ambrose, the crotchety Peckham barber in Channel 4's hit sitcom Desmond's that Beaton will forever be remembered for. The series ran from 1988 until his ill health curtailed the show in 1994. He retired to Georgetown, the place of his birth, but collapsed and died of a heart attack at the airport on arrival, on 13th December 1994. He was 60 years old.

Filmography

In Sickness and in Health

0

In Sickness and in Health
1975-05-21

7

Real Life
1984-06-01

Up the Chastity Belt

4.136

Up the Chastity Belt
1972-01-14

6.75

Black Joy
1977-11-06

6

Playing Away
1987-01-02

The Mighty Quinn

6.041

The Mighty Quinn
1989-02-17

6.364

Pressure
1976-11-19

9

Endgame
1989-01-01

7.4

Nice
1984-10-19

Big George Is Dead

7

Big George Is Dead
1987-10-01

Black Christmas

5

Black Christmas
1977-12-20

0

When Love Dies
1990-01-20

0

Easy Money
1982-05-28

Black and White in Colour

10

Black and White in Colour
1992-06-27

5.338

Eureka
1983-05-01

Mark of the Hand

0

Mark of the Hand
1987-01-01

The Last Window Cleaner

0

The Last Window Cleaner
1979-02-13

4.429

Growing Pains
1980-10-04

0

Airbase
1988-03-01

Rachel and the Roarettes

0

Rachel and the Roarettes
1985-06-13

10

Graceless Go I
1974-10-08

Busker's Odyssey

7

Busker's Odyssey
1994-12-24

6.982

The Cosby Show
1984-09-20

7.1

Minder
1979-10-29

7.3

Desmond's
1989-01-05

6.667

Sykes
1972-09-14

7.5

Empire Road
1978-10-31

Hammer House of Horror

7.1

Hammer House of Horror
1980-09-13

6.077

The Protectors
1972-09-29

7

Playhouse
1974-03-13

Rockliffe's Babies

5.8

Rockliffe's Babies
1987-01-09

5.75

The Fosters
1976-04-09

5.833

Dead Head
1986-01-15

Little Napoleons

9

Little Napoleons
1994-06-07

6.7

Dispatches
1987-10-30

The Play on One

6

The Play on One
1988-01-19